Path to Transcendence

Chapter 595: Ripping Through

Aliyah POV

She didn’t think Derek should be out here, especially during this mess. But having Cain and Freya at their side alleviated many of her worries. Having one Tier 6 was already an extreme show of power that even the Empire couldn’t easily deploy.

Still, she didn’t like risking Derek. She had already heard reports that many scions of noble families were either killed or kidnapped during the chaos. Some of them were even children of people she knew. The Conclave had been playing it quiet for the past few years, but it was evident that they no longer had the same intention.

This was practically a declaration of war.

So she tagged along with Derek’s group of friends. She agreed with Cain and Freya that it would be a good experience for them, with little risk, given who was waiting in the back to save them if needed.

However, to her concern, this wasn’t a mission for the whole group. It was purely for Julius, from what she could tell.

When they heard of Julius’s return, they all headed back without hesitation. But upon her arrival, she immediately noticed that the boy wasn’t the same. Somehow, he managed to advance during the time he was gone. Unbelievable.

That wasn’t what baffled her the most, either. It was the pressure she felt from him. She always knew that Julius was a powerful fighter. After all, he more than demonstrated that simple fact during the tournament. Everyone who watched his fights could see the brilliance of his talents. He would become a powerhouse someday.

Someday.

So when she saw him gathering mana, she couldn’t help but flinch back in astonishment. An impossible dense wave of energy was being concentrated within his body. It was nothing compared to what he had displayed during the tournament.

She heard the slow thumping of his energy accumulating. Each pulsation shook her body. Dark blue flames from his crown billowed out from his back like a scorching cape. Just looking at the flames hurt her senses. The aspects of destruction and ruin were so powerful that her own authority and domain reacted reflexively to protect her.

She peeked behind her and noticed that his friends had already backed away. Not because of fear of him, but because the energy he was releasing was so powerful that it was physically hurting them with each tick.

Still, it was shocking when the door and its protections were eviscerated with a single kick. The entire building shook, and she could already feel the enemies inside reacting, taking up arms. She was certain that Julius could sense the same, but he still strolled through the doors unhurriedly. It almost felt like he wanted them to have time to prepare.

His authority surged out from him as he stalked toward the incoming enemies.

She turned to look at Cain and Freya, both of whom were looking at Julius with unsurprised expressions on their faces.

“What did you do to him?” She asked quietly, but knew that they would hear her.

“Nothing. He did this all on his own,” Freya answered softly.

Aliyah had more questions, but before she could ask them, Freya and Cain followed Julius into the building. She could feel Freya continuously monitoring the barrier she had placed and making sure nobody interfered. Aliyah had decent enough senses and control for a Tier 5 that she was able to see what Freya was doing.

The Tier 6 woman demonstrated an elegance and command of mana that had Aliyah staring in awe. She was so awestruck that she almost failed to notice when the enemies were already confronting Julius in an open atrium with pillars all around the surrounding areas.

They attacked him on sight. Almost all of them were Tier 4s, and Aliyah prepared some mana to help Julius when she felt Cain rip away her technique with a casual flick of his hand. It would seem that they were really serious about letting Julius do this all on his own.

She was forced to watch behind the cover of Freya’s concealment barrier as over ten Tier 4s converged on Julius. Blasts of mana from every direction threatened to slam into the young boy. However, Julius was already prepared, and a barrier of blue light formed around him, just like the shields he used during the tournament.

Except this barrier was much stronger, which was saying something, since he had some of the most robust barriers among all the participants. The swarm of attacks splashed against the barrier, and only the more powerful ones had any effect.

Still, a single barrier wasn’t enough to hold off the combined efforts of so many Tier 4s. The barrier slowly started to show signs of fracturing and fraying around the edges. However, Julius didn’t reinforce the barrier as she expected. Instead, he sent the barrier flying forward, catching all of the attacks head-on. Some dove out of the way, and other warrior-focused fighters smashed their weapons against it, shattering the barrier.

He used this opening to dash forward. Several attacks managed to find gaps in his defenses and threatened to hit him from the side, but she spotted a field of what she knew to be kinetic energy around Julius’s body.

He had used a similar skill during the tournament. But this skill was also influenced by his advancement; the field destroyed and consumed the attacks with prejudice. She could feel his authority and kinetic energy tearing the attacks apart. None of the attacks was strong enough to withstand his oppressive authority.

Several powerful blasts of disruptive mana tried to wrestle his control away from him, but they had no effect. Julius’s will stood firm and smacked aside these disruptive attacks with ease.

By the time the enemies realized their attacks weren’t having the intended effects, Julius was already in their midst. And it was mayhem.

His kinetic field tore large gouges of flesh from his opponents when they got within several feet of him. He could sense that he was interrupting their movements as well. Slight shoves of kinetic energy at their feet to destabilize them, as well as blocking attacks aimed at his back.

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He was being absolutely bombarded by so many attacks that she could barely make out his form during the chaos. Her instincts led her to step forward to help him. This wasnʼt something a lone Tier 4 could handle alone.

To her alarm, Cain used some kind of skill to hold her still. She was held in place by an indomitable will and could do nothing but watch as Julius was swarmed by countless attacks.

This was also the case for Derek and his friends. They could do nothing but witness the bombardment from the back.

Julius was clearly still adapting to his advancement. There were occasions when he was a bit sloppy or misstepped. With so many opponents in front of him, he was punished for these mistakes. He got one particular large wound across his chest as well as several smaller wounds littered around his body. But he didn’t seem to care.

Instead, there was a feral grin on his face as he pushed harder and with even more unbridled violence. All the while, he made improvements of his own. He was visibly refining his mana control and the way he moved his body at such an extraordinary rate that she couldn’t help but understand why Freya and Cain wanted him to fight alone. It was rare to see someone acclimate to Tier 4 as quickly as he was demonstrating.

Now that he wasn’t making as many mistakes, this was where the true bloodbath began. An enemy thrust their spear at Julius’s throat. But Julius snatched the spear midair and kicked the opponent into the crowd behind him. He then took the spear and threw it at the mages who were tossing out bolts of mana from the backlines.

The spear was reinforced with an alarming amount of mana. She was taken aback when she noticed how quickly he was able to use that much mana. Several large barriers tried to stop the spear, but they were clearly not enough, and the spear pierced them like butter. It then tore through the surprised mages, killing two of them instantly and injuring another two.

A green light of life mana radiated from the back, healing the injured enemies. However, she wasn’t the only one who noticed this. She spotted how Julius’s focus immediately snapped to the healer’s direction, and then she sensed him activate his teleportation skill.

The enemies must have sensed it as well, and several of them attempted to disrupt this skill while several of them backed off to protect the healer. Their quick reaction saved the healer because Julius ripped through their attempts to stop him. He appeared right next to the healer, but an enemy was there, blocking Julius at the last second.

However, it came at a cost. The accumulated power behind Julius’s strike was enough to shatter their guard and crush their ribs. Unfortunately, this delay was enough to save the healer, and Julius was forced back.

He warped again, teleporting away from the new flood of attacks converging on his position. But with all of their concentration on the mage, they weren’t prepared when Julius targeted the enemies separated from their comrades. Their only warning was a shout of surprise and a head exploding into a mist of blood.

They all turned to the noise, but by then, Julius was already gone, and another head burst open from the other side of the room. One more body fell, and there wasn’t anything the enemies could do.

She could see the enemies start to panic now. Their healer was safe, but it wouldn’t matter if Julius killed them before the healer could do anything. Aliyah observed as several more enemies poured into the room.

One of these newcomers was someone whom Aliyah took notice of right away. It was a man in a dark gray robe, his face covered. The robed man activated some kind of skill, and she watched with anxiousness when Julius didn’t teleport anymore.

The man had deployed a wide net around the atrium, and she felt something dangerous about it. She didn’t know what would happen if Julius activated his spatial skill again, and Julius appeared to be cautious as well.

Instead of teleporting around, Julius exploded with his ruinous aura. The net, which was already closing in on Julius’s position, was disrupted, and the robed man stiffened when this happened.

Julius then dodged to the side when an enemy rogue teleported next to him and almost sliced his head off. The rogue tried to get away, but Julius smiled and grabbed hold of the man’s arm. The knife sliced his arm, but Julius didn’t pay any heed and brought the rogue close to him.

Strikes poured in from all sides. They didn’t even care that their own comrade was next to Julius. They wanted to kill him while they had the chance. Julius used a couple of mana-constructed barriers to protect himself from most of the attacks and used the rogue as a human shield to block the rest of them.

The rogue struggled with all of their might, but it was futile. His own comrades’ attacks crashed into him, and there was nothing left except their lifeless corpse. Of course, this wasn’t without cost for Julius. Several attacks still made it through.

Yet, he was fine. When the dust cleared, he stood there with that same feral grin. His body was covered in wounds, bloodied all over. However, before her very eyes, she watched as his flesh stitched itself back together.

It happened so quickly that in a matter of a few seconds, all of the wounds that had been on his body were gone as if they were never there in the first place. More disturbingly, she had not sensed any life mana from him.

If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought it was simple passive regeneration. But that was impossible. Nobody had such extreme passive regeneration. But then again, she didn’t sense any life mana or healing techniques. So how was it possible? She knew he had a powerful healing skill, but there were no signs of it.

Her eyes widened when a possibility sparked in her mind. One that was only because she knew he had recently advanced.

There is no way. I have heard of body evolutions changing things like passive regeneration, but this is on another level, she gaped.

At least that was what she would have believed, but she saw the bright smile on Cain’s face and the unsurprised look on Freya’s face.

“What kind of body did he get?” She muttered, her question directed at the two Tier 6s, who seemed completely unconcerned that their disciple was fighting over a dozen Tier 4s by himself.

She could feel Julius’s friendsʼ nervousness and their desire to help out. But they also seemed to realize that they couldn’t do anything. This fight was beyond their current capabilities.

If that wasn’t enough, this entire time, she could feel Julius continuously refining his control and adapting to his advancement. Thu,s when she saw his bright smile, she knew that he was about to do something.

And something it was.

She felt his mana, aura, kinetic energy, and authority all build up. Then a single shockwave resounded outward, vibrating her very being. Everything went silent, and she watched with a mixture of horror and fascination as everything within ten feet of Julius shattered into dust, including two people directly in front of him.

Everyone in the room froze when they saw this, and Julius made sure to capitalize on it. He used his teleportation skill once more. Aliyah finally saw the purpose of the array that the robed individual had set up. It was like space collapsed onto Julius’s location, squeezing air around it.

It was a dangerous anti-teleportation skill, a rare and highly sought-after ability. However, another pulse from Julius and the net fell apart, taking out two more enemies at the same time.

What proceeded was a slaughter.

Seeing Julius rip through these Tier 4s like they were inexperienced Tier 3s had her staggering back. She couldnʼt even associate Julius with the same person who helped her make her grandmotherʼs toffee recipe. Her hands shook slightly as she watched the enemies around Julius begin to flee, and to be honest, she didn’t blame them either.

No recently advanced Tier 4 should ever be capable of this kind of power.